/ Financial / Aster has Announced €240 Million in Capital Raised, Taking Position as the Leading Venture Capital Fund Dedicated to the Energy Transition and the Mobilities of the Future

Aster has Announced €240 Million in Capital Raised, Taking Position as the Leading Venture Capital Fund Dedicated to the Energy Transition and the Mobilities of the Future

Parul Dubey on November 22, 2017 - in Financial, News

With €240 million in capital raised, Aster brings its total funds under management to €500 million and strengthens its position as a central player in financing innovation. A specialist in digital transformation and industries of the future, the investment company provides support to growing companies in the sectors of energy, mobility and industry.

Building from a “Business Hub”, a true acceleration platform serving entrepreneurs, Aster provides them with support to jump-start their development projects and benefit from corporate investor networks.

A €240 million capital increase operation to be invested primarily in Europe and the United States
The €240 million in capital raised in the first closing by several industrial players of the related areas will be used to finance companies, at all levels of maturity. Investments will range from €250K at the seed level to €15M in the growth segment.

Jean-Marc Bally, Managing Partner at Aster, shared his delight “with this remarkable operation, which proves all the confidence our subscribers have in Aster’s unique model and in the vitality of venture capital in France”.

The funds will be invested primarily in Europe and the United States, with potential for action in Asia. Aster covers all the world’s major innovation hubs, with offices in Paris, San Francisco and Tel Aviv, as well as a presence in China and Africa, through partner funds.

Two key topics: the energy transition and the mobilities of the future
Aster’s investments will be focused on the digital and industrial transformations of the energy and mobility markets, the team’s areas of expertise for the last 17 years.
The energy transition will be the first development line. The second angle for investment will be the mobilities of the future, in particular: new usages; technologies and infrastructures fostering sustainable mobility and multi-modality; and connected and autonomous vehicles.

According to Fabio Lancellotti, Partner at Aster, “the transformations underway in the energy and mobility value chains are creating opportunity for budding companies, as well as for industrials. We want to energise the sector by combining our strengths through our ‘Business Hub’ approach”.

A “Business Hub” to boost start-up projects
Aster provides the funded companies with an acceleration platform, facilitated by a dedicated team which mission is to encourage business opportunities. Thanks to its “Business Hub” approach, Aster provides support to entrepreneurs at all stages of their projects and enables them to reach the most relevant players, networks and markets for their development.

Over the last twelve months, the “Business Hub” has enabled more than 500 contacts and generated around twenty partnerships between start-ups and industrial players.

ABOUT ASTER
Aster is a venture capital company managing €500 million through multiple funds raised with major corporations and institutional players. A specialist in digital transformation and new industrial models, Aster funds growing companies in energy, mobility and industry. Using its “Business Hub” approach, the team works with entrepreneurs, enabling them to access corporate investor networks and markets at the global level. Aster operates in all the main innovation hubs, with offices in Paris, San Francisco and Tel Aviv, and draws on partner funds in China and Africa. ConnectBlue (acquired by u-blox in 2014), Solairedirect (acquired by Engie in 2015), Tronics (acquired by Epcos in 2016) or Digital Lumens (acquired by Osram in 2017) are some of its success stories.

 

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